While the fort affair went down, Erudsa led Aldarval’s team to the site of the invisible object. It was in a rocky space between mountains. “Here we are,” announced Erudsa. There was an outline around the object’s crater. The impression it made looked a lot like the keel of a Dauntless-class skyship.
“Ah, Crelima, old friend!” sighed Empria.
“If it IS the Crelima,” countered Arsha.
“Has anyone attempted to find an entrance point?” Aldarval asked Erudsa.
“We’ve been trying,” answered Erudsa, “but we haven’t found one. If there IS one, we need your help in locating it.”
“Let me do it,” offered Endram. “My arms can pick up variances in vibrations. It should help me find a way in.”
“How, by knocking on it?” snarked Erudsa.
“Yep.” Endram then climbed up the object and began tapping his fist on it.
“…I was joking!”
“He wasn’t,” chuckled Roomef. As Endram tapped around, he felt something odd.
“Oh?” he tapped some more, then felt around and grinned. “Maintenance hatch! Big enough for a Giant to go through!” he called down.
“Meaning that the door’s too big for oyu to lift?” asked Erudsa.
“Not with the spell I’ve got in mind!”
“Your Majesty, wait!” called Aldarval. “Giant’s Might only works on organic arms! It’ll destroy cybernetic ones! Let me up there! I’LL open it!” She climbed up to Endram’s position and made a magic circle in the air. “Alsantho TERAK!” she chanted as she thrust her hands into the circle. Her arms were then coated in a green aura, and she felt around for the hatch handle. When she found it, she turned it counterclockwise, then felt around the left of the handle for a gap. The instant she found it, she dug her fingers into it, then lifted the door up until it was standing upright. Where once nothing could be seen, now a massive tube going down with machinery appeared out of thin air!
“Okay, that’s freaky, no matter how you slice it,” muttered Bashoon on the bottom. Aldarval, Empria, and Erudsa led the party into the tube once Aldarval cancelled her spell. They climbed down for a good minute until they reached another door. This time, Aldarval only needed gravity to open it once she twisted the handle. Everyone then cautiously climbed down and, even though the only source of light came from the maintenance hatch, Arsha could see that it was the bridge of a Dauntless-class vessel.
“Well, at least we know what kind of ship it was,” she muttered.
“So why is this ship invisible?” asked Erudsa.
“No clue, but we WILL get to the bottom of this.”
“LOOK!” called Empria. She dashed toward the light and showed off something to everyone. It was a dedication plaque for the ship. The name was emblazoned in gold, clearly showing that it was the Crelima!
“I don’t believe it!” breathed Aldarval. “You were right!” Empria then sat in the Captain’s Chair and stroked the armrest.
“Hello, old friend,” she sighed. “I’m sorry we had to leave you like that.”
“So it IS a ship,” muttered Erudsa. “But, there IS the question of why it’s invisible.”
“I heard a story,” remarked Twirja. “Apparently, there was some weird experiment going on. I suppose, when it crashed, the experiment went wrong. Now, if it’s stripped of sensitive components, we can easily make a sector of the ship perfect for farming.”
“…You can do that?” asked Erudsa.
“Just farming?” asked Aldarval. “We can turn it into a whole multi-functional complex. Shopping, medical care, clothes-making, you name it, there’s room for it.”
“You would give this ship to us willingly?” asked Erudsa.
“In a heartbeat.”
“…You know, I rather like that. However, my people WILL need to see it first before they can use it. Once they can, we join you.”
“You mean…?”
“This is a step in the right direction for our people, but we need to see it all the way through.”
“Is that…REALLY necessary?” asked Empria.
“As commander of this mission, I say yes,” answered Aldarval. “Thangred, Endram, Twirja, I need you to check the computer core, see if you can try to pull up the ship’s logs.”
“We can try,” replied Thangred, “but with how long it’s been since the crash, the logs will have decayed beyond recovery, in all likelihood.”
“Then I guess there’s no hope,” sighed Empria. “Oh well, them’s the breaks.”
“That doesn’t mean we’re not gonna try,” countered Endram. Empria twitched.
“Excellent,” praised Aldarval. Thangred, Endram, and Twirja then headed out of the bridge. They had to manually open the door to leave.
“Aldarval, I really must protest this poking around!” hissed Empria. “This is a tenth level code black matter! Knock it off!”
“Not until Erudsa is satisfied!” growled Aldarval. “Speaking of which, Erudsa, will you come with me? I think we need to have an initial plan on how this thing will serve multiple Gorgon trades best.”
“An excellent idea,” agreed Erudsa. “Lead on.”
“Arsha, you’re in charge of the remaining forces,” ordered Aldarval. “Inform me of any incidents.”
“Aye, Admiral,” answered Arsha. Aldarval and Erudsa then left the bridge.
“Arsha, old friend, we don’t need to dig too deep!” begged Empria.
“The thing is, I need to know why the Crelima’s invisible,” replied Arsha. “It’s a Royana thing to figure out secrets. Speaking of which, Daddy, Denstra, you two search the Captain’s Ready Room. The rest of us will search the bridge.”
“Got it,” replied Elgrad. He and Denstra opened the door to the Captain’s Ready Room while everyone else searched the bridge. Concealed cabinets were opened, chairs were turned over, and computer consoles were opened, but nothing came of the search. After a good two minutes, Elgrad and Denstra came back.
“Nothing, Captain,” reported Denstra. “Not even a cushion out of place.”
“This is a big ship,” remarked Arsha. “We search the rooms near the bridge! Let’s move out!” Everyone then left the bridge.
In the Engine Room, Thangred, Endram, and Twirja opened up a control console for the computer core. “It looks like there’s still power here,” muttered Twirja.
“Power that can be accessed,” observed Endram.
“Then let’s access it,” declared Thangred as he got his tools out.